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Sunday, November 20, 2016

Progress - A Little Bit Can Go A Long Way

Hello, Hello!

I guess I took that cutting back on social media to heart for #NaNoWriMo since it's been a few weeks from my last post. But I have been writing so that is a plus! Last Sunday alone I read through over 60 pages I'd already written and added another 3500+ words to my goal of 50K. As of today I am sitting at just over 20K....with 10 days to go, I have a lot of writing left.

The good news is that I have made it to every write-in held by my local NaNoWriMo group, even the 6am event on my day off! It's been great to talk to other writers who's minds work more similarly to mine, who understand my weird quirks and appreciate where I am at in my journey.

And it truly is a journey, just like life, the writing path has twists and turns and bumps along the way. I've amazed myself at how I initially thought 1700 words a day would be hard, but when I get in the grove I can easily get it accomplished in an hour!

It's like when you first start running and you get that bust of energy and you feel like you can crush it....but then you get cramps and slow down and think about giving up. Yeah, that's been me too. "Oh I'll just skip this day since I did so good yesterday"....multiply that by several days and then I am feeling like I'll never reach my goal.

The thing is, when I stop looking at that ultimate destination and just enjoy the journey I see that I've written 20K words in less than three weeks! According to the NaNoWriMo stats I've actually done all the writing in 12 days of word counts! That's a pretty amazing fete. I own that accomplishment.

I've also began to make time to write. The local library is open until 8pm on Tuesday and Thursday. The writing group is meeting on Tuesday nights this month, but I take it upon myself to also go to the library on Thursday to enjoy a few hours of silent writing. Writing at my home office is fine, but there are so many distractions. I am loving those few hours to just focus and I may actually start making it a routine, as well as Saturday afternoons.

Don't get me wrong, I love my writing space at home and would much rather work there, but some
times it just doesn't work. Like this weekend. We not only have my son and my boyfriend's daughters all weekend, we also have my niece and nephew. That is a ten year old, two eleven year olds, and two sixteen year olds. Add in the 3 dogs, 2 cats, and one very loud television and well it's not gone well. This blog here may be all I get to until all the kiddos (except mine since he lives here) go home. Love it when we have all of them, and any bonus kids, but also need my quiet time.

Anyway, the book is coming along nicely. At the very last moment - for real - I decided to shelf the racy book I'm 140 pages into and return to a book I'd neglected for the last two years - it's the second book in the Small Town Series. Previously it was titled Down For the Count, but I've changed it ...and I actually may change it yet again before the release so I won't say the working title.

I was only 30 pages into that book when I started NaNoWriMo, but I am now well over 100!!! I've not written it is sequential order, but just started writing the scenes that were most visual in m mind. Last Sunday, I went back through and started to piece the puzzle together and now I am filling in the gaps...writing the scenes that aren't really spectacular but are necessary to move the story along. It isn't my favorite part, but, again, it's all part of the process.

I know I have a few major scenes left and I'm excited....like the first time they make love, the way they work through something that could tear them apart, and how their happily-ever-after comes to fruition. It's a story about overcoming the past and finding love is right there in front of you if you just see things differently....at least that's how it works out for Lily and Ty.

I better stop writing this blog post for today and get back to working on the book. I hope you are all having a wonderful November, it's my favorite month to reflect on all I am thankful for - of which there is a plethora of things to list. I pray you take time today to remember your blessings, even the ones that were in disguise, and enjoy where you are in your progression through life.

Thank you for taking time to read my posts, my books, follow me on social media, and enjoy my work that truly is a reflection of my heart.